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A promising change for the better

With hearty smiles and piggy banks, members of Interact and Pencils of Promise are helping children in need.

Walnut High School’s Interact officially started the Be the Change Initiative in cooperation with the non-profit organization Pencils of Promise. Be the Change Initiative is a campaign focused toward donating spare change collected in plastic bottles and piggy banks to provide impoverished children with educational opportunities.

“All of our events are technically volunteer work, and it doesn’t always have to take place at school,” Interact cabinet member sophomore Mia Dimalanta said. “I think what our club and Rotary want to do is to send [the bottles] around [to] look for people like my parents [since] they collect change at home. That way, when family members come home and have change, they could easily put it into a water bottle that is on the dining table.”

WHS Interact is also working with Diamond Bar High School’s Interact and Pencils of Promise and Rowland High School’s Interact in order to expand the collaboration and collect change for the purpose of education.

“I’m definitely passionate about the collaboration. When I am collecting spare change, I know it’s going to a good cause and it’s going to help many people,” Dimalanta said. “[The children] will have more options and learning material [to] broaden their education.”

Interact officers came up with the idea of using piggy banks to accumulate spare change and attract donors. Interact has set a minimum goal of $300 and a dream goal of $550 for itself to fundraise.

“I think that [the initiative] is something we should be in because members can bond together while [helping underprivileged children],” WHS Interact board member junior Ethan Chung said. “The project will help these students get a better education and help them bond with their teachers and peers.”

To conclude the change collection process, the clubs plan to deposit the change, which will go directly to Pencils of Promise.

“I think the initiative is good because it’s going to make a difference [by] helping people,” Interact treasurer junior Maggie Ho said. “I hope that we’ll be able to make a bigger impact on people in third world countries and also on people who are located just in our community. We’re supporting a good cause with the idea that we created. You’re able to see how much impact you can make with just one coin.”